This disclosure relates to floor maintenance machines and, in particular, to consolidating management of and access to supporting fluid subsystems.
Floor maintenance machines or scrubbers provide a way to clean dirty floor surfaces. Typically, an operator directs a floor maintenance machine over the surface to be cleaned by steering or guiding the floor maintenance machine. With the help of a supplied cleaning fluid, an oscillating pad or rotating brushes of the floor maintenance machine can directly contact the floor surface to loosen debris that is on the surface of the floor. A variety of pads and suction devices on the floor maintenance machine can be used to then remove the loosened debris from the floor surface to clean the floor.
In order to clean a dirty floor surface, the floor maintenance machine has a variety of subsystems positioned about the machine chassis. Fluid collection systems, cleaning solution distribution systems, machine power systems, and the like can be positioned throughout the machine to allow the introduction and removal of fluid and debris and to power the machine.
Many of the subsystems positioned about the machine chassis include valves, drains, and filters that require periodic maintenance or replacement. Because these components are placed about the machine chassis sporadically for manufacturability purposes, they are often difficult to reach by the operator and, in some cases, can require opening the machine or even disassembly to access or view these components. Because the various valves, drains, and filters are difficult to access, these components often go unchecked and without maintenance for much longer than recommended and this can result in decreased performance and potentially damage to the machine that requires expensive repair.